Today in Korean history

April 7

1896 -- Korea's first Korean-language newspaper, the Dongnip Shinmun (The Independent), publishes its first edition in Seoul. The four-page newspaper, funded by the government and produced by Seo Jae-pil, an official educated in Japan and the United States, was aimed at reaching the general public by publishing in the vernacular as opposed to the more traditional Chinese script. Seo promoted the introduction of modern culture from Japan and Western countries but soon faced criticism from conservatives who opposed the influx of foreign culture through the newspaper. He returned to the U.S. in 1898, and the newspaper closed a year later.

1911 -- Korean immigrants in Hawaii open a school in Honolulu to teach Korean language and culture to their descendants. The first group of 100 immigrants, who landed in Hawaii in 1903, worked on sugar cane farms on the island.

1957 -- The Korea News Editors' Association is established, setting a code of ethics for journalists.

1996 -- Park Chan-ho, a South Korean pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, earns his first U.S. Major League Baseball win against the Chicago Cubs. Park, who began his career in the majors with the Dodgers in 1994, went on to play for seven clubs, including the Texas Rangers, the San Diego Padres and the New York Mets. Park also signed a one-year contract with the 2009 World Series champion New York Yankees in 2010.

2015 -- In an appeals trial, prosecutors demand capital punishment for the captain of the Sewol ferry, which sank in South Korean waters in April 2014, leaving more than 300 people killed or missing. The captain, Lee Jun-seok, and 14 other crew members of the ferry were accused of abandoning the vessel and the 476 people on board in the early hours of the ship sinking.
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